Checkin’ It Twice: A Christmas Story About Santa’s Lists

Santa’s naughty-and-nice lists are one of the most familiar ideas in modern Christmas folklore. My short story “Checkin’ It Twice” began by asking what might happen if Santa were forced to reconsider whether those lists were fair, useful, or even capable of seeing the whole person.

Originally published December 10, 2012. Substantially revised and expanded July 2026.

Beginning with a Familiar Rule

Most readers already know the rule: Santa checks his list, determines who has been naughty or nice, and distributes gifts accordingly. That familiarity gives a writer a useful starting point because the audience understands the system before the story begins.

The creative opportunity comes from applying pressure to the rule. What counts as naughty? Does one bad choice define an entire year? Are children judged by the same standard even when their circumstances are different? Can a list measure repentance, growth, intent, or a quiet act of kindness no one else noticed?

A Santa Who Must Reconsider

In “Checkin’ It Twice,” Santa is not simply the all-knowing authority who enters the story with every answer. He has to examine a tradition he has followed for a very long time. That makes him both a recognizable mythical figure and a character capable of change.

I enjoy stories in which a familiar character discovers that the old method no longer fits the situation. The tension does not require turning Santa cynical or cruel. It comes from placing a well-meaning person inside a system with blind spots.

Balancing Humor and Heart

A story about Santa examining an enormous moral recordkeeping system naturally offers comic possibilities. Bureaucracy, lists, rules, and Christmas logistics can all become funny. Humor makes the premise inviting, but the question underneath it is serious: how should we judge another person?

The best version of the story needed both tones. If the piece became only a joke, the central idea would feel thin. If it became only a lecture, it would stop feeling like a Christmas story. Humor opens the door; empathy gives the ending weight.

Writing with a Mythical Character

Using a figure such as Santa Claus gives the writer access to a large body of shared expectations. Readers recognize the red suit, the North Pole, the elves, the reindeer, the gifts, and the lists. That saves explanation, but it also creates a danger: the character can become a bundle of borrowed details rather than a person in this particular story.

To make a familiar figure feel fresh, I ask questions such as:

• What part of the traditional role creates a problem?
• What belief does the character hold at the beginning?
• What evidence forces that belief to change?
• Which familiar details are essential, and which can be reimagined?
• What emotional experience belongs specifically to this version?

Becoming the Title Story

The story was later selected for a multi-author Christmas collection, and the anthology took the title Checkin’ It Twice. Having a story become the title piece was an unexpected honor. It also showed me that a strong title can do several jobs at once: evoke a familiar song lyric, signal Christmas, introduce the story’s central object, and suggest that something deserves a second look.

The anthology included a range of uplifting stories, from lighthearted pieces to more reflective ones. That variety allowed the title story’s humor to sit beside other approaches to faith, family, service, and the meaning of the season.

The Question Behind the List

Children need boundaries, accountability, and consequences. They also need room to learn, apologize, improve, and be understood in context. Adults need the same things. A simple list may be efficient, but people are not simple.

That idea is what continues to interest me about “Checkin’ It Twice.” Christmas celebrates a gift offered not because humanity has earned a perfect score, but because grace, love, and redemption are larger than a record of failures.

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“Checkin’ It Twice” is a separate Christmas story that became the title piece of a different multi-author anthology; it is not one of the three Advent story collections beginning with Sing We Now of Christmas. Explore the complete hierarchy of anthologies, carol devotionals, podcasts, audiobooks, translations, articles, and music at Christmas Books, Stories & Music.